In watching Sabotage, I think I was witness to a grand experiment. An experiment in tone, style, and extreme violence, mixed with a somewhat interesting story about corrupt DEA agents and an aging Hollywood action legend. It’s an experiment and mix that just doesn’t come together, but I found myself wishing it would throughout the film.

It has decent moments, but they are brief and sporadic as this is mostly a gritty ugly mess of a film. Shot with a variety of camera types, the film occasionally feels more like a documentary or found footage project. Schwarzenegger’s performance is fine along with the rest of the cast – when they are actually allowed some quality screen time. I did enjoy Mirelille Enos in this, and I wished they had given her characters drug fueled craziness more screen time and weapons to use!

The script is certainly this movie’s weakest link. With little to no depth given to the characters, we’re left with a pretty unlikable group of two-dimensional gun totting jocks. We’re told they work hard and play hard, but all I saw was play as they filled their victims with bullets as gleefully as they filled strippers g-strings with dollar bills.

Movie Prep:

This is NOT your typical Schwarzenegger movie. His characters motives and intentions are left very vague in this and his team are very dis-likeable. This is gritty, and very violent so expect plenty of gun fights, blood and mutilated corpses. The language too is pretty raw.

Best Format:

Due to the varied quality camera work, I would suggest you don’t watch this at the theater. Wait to rent this on DVD and watch it at home. Or even better, wait a little longer and watch it over your favorite streaming service like Netflix or Amazon Prime. The action scenes are pretty involved and hard to follow on a large screen. Trying to follow this on your tablet or smart-phone would be pointless.

Best element for me:

Mirelille Enos. Her character Lizzy is just wired and ready to pop. A pale skinny uber-violent red-head, and the most memorable element in this movie.